Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2016
300. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection the full year cost of increasing the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for children aged between four and 11 years from €100 to €130 and for children aged between 12 and 18 from €200 to €230; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28586/16]
View answerThe back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The BSCFA is not intended to meet the full cost of school clothing and footwear but to provide assistance towards these costs. The Government has provided €38.8 million for the scheme in 2016.
The BSCFA rates are currently €100 for children aged 4-11 and €200 for children aged 12 -22 (children aged 18 years and over must be attending second level education to qualify).
End of year records show that under the 2015 BSCFA scheme, payments were made to over 153,000 families in respect of some 281,000 children.
Using the number of children covered by the scheme in 2015 as a basis, the additional cost to increase the BSCFA payment by €30 for each eligible child would be approximately €8.4 million.
Changes to increase the rate of payment to any scheme administered by my Department would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
